US Justice Department drafts legal opinion backing demands for state voter rolls

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

May 13, 2026 12:54 PM EDT Updated 4 hours ago


May 13 (Reuters) - The Department ​of Justice has issued a formal legal justification for the federal government's demands that states share their ‌unredacted voter rolls, even though half a dozen federal courts have already ruled that states have no obligation to provide those lists.

The May 12 opinion from the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel - which provides advice to the White House and federal agencies - is not binding on states, ​dozens of which have resisted the Trump administration's demands that they hand over lists including sensitive information such ​as voters' partial social security numbers and driver's license numbers.

But it signals that the Justice Department ⁠does not intend to back down from its push for the data, even after federal judges in California, Oregon, ​Michigan, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Arizona have blocked it from forcing states to share their lists. The department says it needs ​the unredacted lists to oversee states' processes for ensuring that ineligible people, including noncitizens, are not registered to vote.

The opinion comes as President Donald Trump's Republicans are battling to maintain control of both houses of Congress in the November midterm elections. Trump and his allies have falsely ​asserted that his loss in the 2020 presidential election was due to fraud. Trump also frequently states that voting by ​illegal immigrants is rampant, even though state audits and independent studies have shown that the practice is rare.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-justice-department-drafts-legal-opinion-backing-demands-state-voter-rolls-2026-05-13/

[msongs]

1. DOJ trump/republican personal attorneys nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Trump DOJ cites its own legal memo to defend voter roll demands on eve of appeal

trump has lost 6 of these cases. The trump DOJ has no authority for its position and so is making up authority by citing a DOJ legal memo. I was coming home from a meeting and I heard Ari Melber and Professor Mellissa Murray laugh at this stunt.

Trump DOJ Cites Its Own Legal Memo to Defend Voter Roll Demands on Eve of Appeal | Democracy Docket

— r/protectUSelections (@protectuselections.bsky.social) 2026-05-12T23:21:25.399760+00:00

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-doj-cites-its-own-legal-memo-to-defend-voter-roll-demands-on-eve-of-appeal/

With a key appeal looming, the Department of Justice cited an unusual source to defend its sweeping voter roll demands: itself.

In a filing Tuesday, just one day before oral arguments in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, DOJ submitted a newly issued internal legal opinion as “supplemental authority” — a memo written by its own Office of Legal Counsel and published the same day it was filed.

The department told the court the memo supports its argument that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 allows DOJ to force states to hand over unredacted statewide voter registration lists and then share that data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).....

Rather than pointing the appeals court to a new ruling from another court backing its position, DOJ pointed to a legal opinion it wrote for itself that same day.

In other words, with real legal precedent in short supply, DOJ is now citing its own homework and asking the court to treat it like the answer key.

The OLC opinion concludes that DOJ has authority to compel states to produce voter registration lists, even if the department plans to share them with DHS or another federal unit.....

For now, DOJ is heading into argument with a legal strategy that amounts to asking the court to trust DOJ’s view of DOJ’s power — even after multiple courts have already said no.

DOJ also cited its own opinion in the Ninth Circuit in its appeal to cases out of California and Oregon.

I agree with Marc Elias on this stunt

Link to tweet

This is so pathetic. DOJ is 0-6 in lawsuits to gain access to state voter roles. It couldn't find any legal authority for its claims so it wrote its own memo to cite to the 6th Circuit. SAD!

[BumRushDaShow]

3. There are no limits to the depths of brazen depravity and manufactured

on-the-fly lawfare, that they won't use.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. DOJ voter roll grab: Court sounds skeptical of Trump bid for Michigan data

The appeals court panel was not impressed with this memo

DOJ voter roll grab: Court sounds skeptical of Trump bid for Michigan data www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

— Ray Beckerman (@raybeckerman.bsky.social) 2026-05-13T19:51:21.536Z

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/doj-voter-roll-grab-court-sounds-skeptical-of-trump-bid-for-michigan-data/

A panel of three judges on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sounded deeply skeptical of a DOJ lawyer’s claim that the 1960 Civil Rights Act (CRA) authorizes the department to obtain unredacted voter registration files — including sensitive, personal information like social security numbers and dates of birth — from states. ...

The night before oral arguments, the DOJ filed a notice of supplemental authority pointing to a DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo published Tuesday that claims the agency has the power to demand voter rolls. In other words, the DOJ cited the DOJ’s opinion that the court should rule for the DOJ.

“What is the purpose of an OLC opinion?” one judge asked, saying that he “hadn’t had a chance to look at it.”

“Why would there be an OLC opinion, after all the lawsuits have been filed, and we’re at the point where the Court of Appeals, why would there be an opinion at that point in time, as opposed to before everything takes place?” he added.....

Wednesday’s oral arguments were the first out of the three losses DOJ has so far appealed. Oral arguments in the DOJ’s appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court from decisions in California and Oregon are scheduled for next week.

In Michigan, U.S. District Court Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump-appointee, ruled that the CRA does not require states to disclose the requested records.